As is well known, electrical connectors are commonly used for connecting the conductors on one printed circuit board to those on another printed circuit board. Due to the fact that there is the possibility of the printed circuit boards being offset in position to each other relative to their predetermined positions (such state is hereinafter referred to as "pitch-shift"), the prior electrical connectors have been constructed to include any means for accommodating such pitch-shift.
The electrical connectors in the prior art include terminals each having a contact and a tail connected to each other by means of a flexible joint. This flexible joint usually has less rigidity for reducing the load thereto required for flexing to accommodate the pitch-shift. To avoid damage to the flexible joint when it is flexed and to make sure of the proper positioning of the tail when the connector is mounted to the printed circuit boards.
A first type of the prior art connector, discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,235, is constructed in such a manner that the contact and the tail of the terminal are connected together by means of a flexible joint. The terminal contact is mounted in the contact housing. The tail is fixed to a tail housing part. The contact housing part is provided with the peg. The flexible joint accommodates for the pitch-shift and the peg protects the flexible joint. The tail housing part makes sure of the proper positioning of the tail of the terminal. After assembly of this electrical connector, the connection between the contact housing and the tail housing parts is broken.
A second type of prior art connector disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 991,792 filed Dec. 17 1992, comprises an inner and outer housing which receive the terminal contact and the terminal tail, respectively. Fitting nails are used to prevent the contact housing from lifting up. The position of the terminal is achieved by the tail housing. After assembly, a connection between both housings is broken.
Finally, a third type of prior art connector disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 73,813 filed Jun. 8, 1993, comprises an inner and outer housing which receives the terminal contact and the terminal tail, respectively. Both housings are connected to each other with a flexible joint to accommodate the pitch-shift and to prevent the upward lift of the contact housing. The proper position of the tail is assured by the tail housing.
Although the prior art connectors as stated above provide excellent results, they still have some disadvantages. In the event that two printed circuit boards to be electrically connected are considerably offset in position from one another, a relatively higher load may be placed on the flexible joint to accommodate for this greater pitch-shift. This is especially true for the third prior art connector types.
A large amount of unused space on the printed circuit boards is needed to use the first and second type of prior art connectors. Also in some connectors additional parts may be required or may have to be disposed of as is the case with the third type of prior art connector, thereby increasing the number of process steps and/or assembly steps.